1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing reels of the type having a rotor with a bail assembly thereon that is rotatable to direct line onto a spool and, more particularly, to a fishing reel which has a trigger that is operable to change the bail assembly from a retrieve position into a cast position.
2. Background Art
One common fishing reel construction utilizes a rotor with a repositionable bail assembly thereon. Through a crank handle, a user imparts rotation to the rotor. As this occurs, the bail assembly, which is in a retrieve position, wraps line around a spool. By repositioning the bail assembly to a cast position, line can be freely paid off of the spool. By then operating the crank handle, the bail assembly is caused to be automatically moved from the cast position back into the retrieve position.
Various mechanisms have been devised to facilitate repositioning of the bail assembly. In its simplest form, this type of reel requires that a user manually grasp the bail assembly and effect pivoting movement thereof to change the bail assembly from the retrieve position into the cast position.
To avoid having to directly grasp the bail assembly, various trigger systems have been devised. In one form, a trigger is mounted on the rotor. By strategically situating the rotor, one or more fingers on the user's hand grasping the rod and reel can be used to operate the trigger and in one motion place the bail assembly in a cast position and draw the line against the rod to prevent payout as a cast is initiated. The user releases the line at the point that the rod is thrust forwardly to perform a cast.
The assignee herein offers a line of reels with a trigger feature which it identifies as its SNAPSHOT.RTM. fishing reels. These reels have a line holding feature which allows the user to, in one motion, reposition the bail assembly and hold the line without the user's having to at any point directly touch the line. The line becomes confined by a pin which remains in a holding position so long as the trigger is actuated. To initiate the cast, the user releases the trigger at the moment that the rod is thrust forwardly to allow line to pay out. The assignee offers a number of reels having this configuration wherein the trigger is mounted upon the rotor so that the rotor must be consistently oriented to allow convenient operation of the trigger. This structure is described in the assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,921,188 and 5,154,369.
The assignee offers an alternative mechanism in a fishing reel which it identifies as its HYPERCAST.RTM. fishing reels. One such construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,149. These reels incorporate a frame mounted trigger relative to which the rotor operates. The reels are designed so that the trigger can be actuated with the rotor in any rotational position to change the bail assembly from the retrieve position into the cast position.
The above lines of fishing reels have been highly commercially successful. As with virtually every commercial product, the designers thereof strive to increase manufacturing efficiency, and reduce manufacturing and costs without sacrificing performance and quality. Consistent with this goal is the reduction in the number of required parts and manufacturing steps. Reduction of the number of parts may result from simplification of design, which in turn may contribute greatly to reliability.